Garmin Heads Lower As TomTom Ups Tele Atlas Bid

By Eric Savitz

The bidding war for Tele Atlas has stepped up a notch.

To review: Over the summer, GPS-device maker TomTom offered to buy digital maps company Tele Atlas for 21.25 euros per share. Then a few months later, Nokia (NOK)agreed to buy Navteq (NVT), the primary rival for Tele Atlas, for a whopping $8.1 billion. Having no dance partner, Garmin (GRMN)jumped into action, and last week topped TomTom’s bid, offering 24.50 euros a share for Tele Atlas.

And now, TomTom has come back with an offer of 30 euros a share for Tele Atlas. The company also said it has arranged to buy 25.8 million Tele Atlas shares, about a 28.3% stake. That includes 15.8 million shares from International Asset Management B.V. The new offer values the company at 2.9 billion euros, or about $4.2 billion.

So here’s where we are in terms of the stocks. Garmin, which has not yet responded, today is down $6.31, or 6.3%, at $94.25. TomTom, which is traded in Amsterdam, is down 1.84 Euros, or 3.3%, to 54.70. And TeleAtlas, also traded in Amsterdam, is up 5.20, or 19.3%, at 32.15. And that’s the key quote: well above the new offer, it suggests investors believe there is at least one more bid to come.

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Tech Trader Daily is a blog on technology investing written by Barron’s veteran Tiernan Ray. The blog provides news, analysis and original reporting on events important to investors in software, hardware, the Internet, telecommunications and related fields. Comments and tips can be sent to: techtraderdaily@barrons.com.